Unsupported processor - Intel i7 7700HQ

I have just upgraded my desktop to Windows 11 and would like to upgrade my laptop so I am not using different OS. It is a Dell XPS15 with Windows 10 Pro 21H2
PC Health check says:
- PC supports Secure Boot
- TPM 2.0 enabled
- 16GB of memory installed
- 512 GB of storage (SSD)
- Processor has 4 cores

All good but it also says the processor is unsupported
I have an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.8 GHz

According to the "supported processors" list the nearest seems to be:
i7-7800X
i7-7820HQ[1]
i7-7820X

I would have thought that the machine is quite powerful enough to run Windows 11 but can I make the upgrade with an unsupported processor?

I managed to get my i7-7700K to run Windows 11 - it took a bit of work searching various sites but it ended up using a new Windows 11 USB and replacing a single file with a previous version which prevented the system check. Sadly, I can't remember all of the details, now, of course but do a search and you should be lucky!

Welcome to the forum. It's not the power of the machine that determines whether the hardware is on Microsoft's supported processor list. Many older machines have hardware that runs more powerful than some of the ones MS considers supported. With the exception of the 3 7th generation core processors you listed, MS considers 8th generation CPU and above as supported.
You can use find several methods across the web how to install Windows 11 on your 7th generation CPU. One can alter the registry during install or use Rufus to make bootable media that bypasses the restrictions. Do a web search for "How to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware" or "Install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware using Rufus".
I have found the Rufus method the easiest and most straightforward.

Another method is using the Github tool.

EDIT to add @Ghot instructions got using Github tool

I had an i7-7700k running Win11. It's relativity easy with a simple reg hack - plenty of info on the web about bypassing TPM and CPU checks. It ran well although MSoft have mentioned or threatened on more than one occasion they will get round to 'outlawing' the bypass hack. So far though nothing's materialized so probably just more hot air coming from MS Towers.

Downloaded the Win 11 ISO using the media creation tool - mounted the ISO in explorer and ran the set up file.

It's crazy in my book to bin a perfectly good CPU which is still a great processor in 2023.

Arpeggio Phil said:

All good but it also says the processor is unsupported
I have an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.8 GHz

According to the "supported processors" list the nearest seems to be:
i7-7800X
i7-7820HQ[1]
i7-7820X

I would have thought that the machine is quite powerful enough to run Windows 11 but can I make the upgrade with an unsupported processor?

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

There are only a very few 7th gen Intel processors on the supported list, but yours isn't one of them. Almost all 7th gen, and all 6th gen or earlier are unsupported.

It is quite possible to upgrade an unsupported device to windows 11 but you'll need to employ one of the workaraounds you'll find elsewhere on this site. There's always a small risk that MS may one day stop providing updates to unsupported devices, but that hasn't happened yet. My System Two in My Computers below is running 11 on a 1st gen Intel i5 and continues to get all cumulative updates through windows Update.

Hi,
you can use Rufus - see Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way, to bypass the cpu check, tpm check etc. It will create the media automatically and you just need to install it then.

Good luck,
werty

Many thanks for all your responses. I will do some research on these and give it a try.
Cheers, Phil

Arpeggio Phil said:

Many thanks for all your responses. I will do some research on these and give it a try.
Cheers, Phil

Click to expand...

If you do proceed please remember to report back as it may be of assistance to other forum members.

All tricks to bypass compatibility check and install Windows 11 on unsupported computers are discussed in this thread: Let's install Windows 11 on incompatible hardware and similar threads. Read the last posts for 22H2 version.

I recently "deliberately" bought very, very cheap DELL Optiplex 5050 (7th Gen Internals), purely for Windows 11 tinkering.

Bought this box, as it had TPM2.0, original CPU was i3-7100.
I addedd 16gb mem, then installed Win 11 via downloaded iso/Rufus.

Disabled all Rufus Win 11 patching.
Windows 11 installed without hitch, then performed updates, and upgraded CPU to i5-7500, still no problem.
If this machine still updates as normal within 1x months time, I'll start selling 7th Gen Dell machines, with Win 11.

Silvio said:

If this machine still updates as normal within 1x months time, I'll start selling 7th Gen Dell machines, with Win 11.

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

I have had both supported and unsupported devices running Windows 11 since version 21H2 was launched. Unsupported devices got all the same cumulative updates as the supported ones did.

What you need to know is that an unsupported device will never be offered the Feature Update to the next version of Windows 11 through Windows Update. When version 22H2 was released all my supported devices got upgraded through Windows Update. None of the unsupported devices were offered it, I had to download the ISO and manually upgrade them myself.

Bree said:

What you need to know is that an unsupported device will never be offered the Feature Update to the next version of Windows 11 through Windows Update. When version 22H2 was released all my supported devices got upgraded through Windows Update. None of the unsupported devices were offered it, I had to download the ISO and manually upgrade them myself.

Click to expand...

Ah, great to know..
So for me, question about 7th Gen and Windows 11 is over, just about if possible to patch registry, on unsupported install, to receive "Feature Updates".

Being a "bit of a hardware geek", I also purchased Dell Optiplex box with 8th/9th Gen support, for real work on Win11, as opposed to tinkering platform..

An unsupported computer is not offered upgrade to the new version, but you can keep using the current version with all its updates as long as there is no application that demands a higher version. Or you can charge the new owners to upgrade the system for them

Silvio said:

So for me, question about 7th Gen and Windows 11 is over, just about if possible to patch registry, on unsupported install, to receive "Feature Updates".

Click to expand...

I doubt it is possible, or if it was it would be a very complex patch.

When a new version is about to be released Windows runs a hardware appraisal of the machine and stores its results in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\TargetVersionUpgradeExperienceIndicators

There is a separate key holding the results for each new version's test, and each key holds over 40 different values. The keys for W11 versions 21H2 and 22H2 were named CO21H2 and NI22H2, for example. Their development code names were Copper and Nickel, 23H2 is expected to be Zinc (ZN23H2) and can already be seen being used for the Insider Canary build.

Why automate it? Each new official release is once a year. Just download the new ISO, mount it, run Setup and replace the file appraiserres.dll with an empty dummy before proceeding. Keep disconnected from the internet during the upgrade.

spapakons said:

Why automate it? Each new official release is once a year. Just download the new ISO, mount it, run Setup and replace the file appraiserres.dll with an empty dummy before proceeding. Keep disconnected from the internet during the upgrade.

Click to expand...

Thanks for info.

Reverted to previous Win11 version on the tinkerbox, to see if it would update by default to 21H22, didn't.


So will try this.

But automated process, would be good.

spapakons said:

Why automate it? Each new official release is once a year. Just download the new ISO, mount it, run Setup and replace the file appraiserres.dll with an empty dummy before proceeding. Keep disconnected from the internet during the upgrade.

Click to expand...

Doesn't even need to be disconnected, I've done upgrades using the Appraiser trick without disconnecting

BrianInEngland said:

Doesn't even need to be disconnected, I've done upgrades using the Appraiser trick without disconnecting

Click to expand...

I've just tried this "technique", and it worked fine.
Just remember to download iso with same language as your install, or you won't be given option to keep data and apps.
I disabled updates during upgrade, worked fine.

I have confirmed with at least four unsupported computers, if you don't disconnect from the internet during the upgrade, it will fail before reaching 50% due to some hidden online compatibility check or because Windows Update messing with the drivers, even if you select not to use it. So I always disconnect to be on the safe side.